Collapsible mop support



Sept. 1, 1959 Filed Aug. 14, 1957 W. W. SMITH ET AL COLLAPSIBLE MOPSUPPORT 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. WILLIAM W. SMITH IRVING A. YAMENATTORNEY Sept. 1, 1959 W. W. SMITH ET AL COLLAPSIBLE MOP SUPPORT FiledAug. 14, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet l 4 HUI? INVENTOR. WILLIAM W. SMITH IRVINGA YAMEN A TTORNEY United States Patent ice COLLAPSIBLE MOP SUPPORTWilliam W.- Smithandlrving A. Yamen, Denver, Colo., assignors toDust-Tex Corporation, Denver, Colo., a corporation of ColoradoApplication August 14, 1957, Serial No.-678,145 10 Claims. c1. 1s-147)This invention relates generally to floor mops and more specifically tomop heads or supports of the folding or collapsible type. The structureillustrated is in the form for receiving a heart shaped swab which isparticularly designed to permit maneuvering of the mop in restricted andcongested areas, this design being shown more in detail by a UnitedStates design patent application Serial No. D47,358 entitled, Mop Head,and filed on August 14, 1957, in the name 'of Irving A. Yamen et a1.,and assigned to the same assignee as this application. Mop constructionsof this general type are "provided with opposed pockets in the swabarranged to receive the foldable leaf or wing elements of the mopsupport and these elements are designed so that they may be maintainedin extended coplanar position or collapsed relative to one another topermit the swab to be readily removed and replaced.

One'of theprimary objects of this invention resides in the improvedconstruction of the mop support whereby the wing elements thereof may becollapsed relative to each other in an efficient and simple manner.

A further object is to provide an improved mop support of the typedescribed including a connector housing for the wings of the support andcam operated means within the housing for permitting the relativecollapsing of the wings from an extended coplanar position, said cammeans being operated by means including the mop handle receiving member.

It is also an object to provide a mop support of the type described inthe preceding paragraph wherein there is provided improved meansincluding the cam operated means for readily locking the wings in theirextended position. v I

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an improved mop headwhich is simple, inexpensive and relatively light weight.

The construction designed to carry out the invention will be hereinafterdescribed, together with other features thereof and will be more readilyunderstood by areading of the following specification and :by referenceto the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof wherein an exampleof the invention is illustrated and wherein:

Figure l is a perspective view of a mop utilizing the novel headconstruction of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational View showing the mop head in a collapsedposition so that the swab may be removed therefrom;

Figure 3 is an enlarged bottom view of the mop support shown in Figure 1with the backing plate of the connector housing removed;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the lines 4-4 of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along the lines 5-5 of Figure 3.

The novelty of the present invention resides particularly in that partof the mop support which permits the wings of the head to be collapsedrelative to one another or maintained in a coplanar relationship. Thus,at the 2,901,759 Patented Sept. 1, 9

outset the non-inventive elements shown in the drawing will be describedfor background.

H represents the connector housing and extending from one side thereof,the left as viewed as viewed in Figure 3, is a wing or leaf 1 while fromthe right there extends theleaf or wing 2. M depicts a specialheartshaped swab disclosed andclaimed in said design application and onits upper surface the swab is provided with pockets P and P whichrespectively receive the wings 1 and 2. When the wings are in anextended position whereby they are substantially coplanar as shown inFigure l, the swab M is maintained in proper position thereon foroperation over the desired surface and when the wings are positioned asshown in Figure 2, the swab M may be removed and replaced and thestructure within housing H permits these operations to take placereadily. If the entire mop structure is elevated from the floor to theextent shown in Figure 2, the swab M may be manually removed from thewings and likewise a swab M may be manually positioned over the wingswhen they are in the position of Figure 2 and prior to their beingpositioned in coplanar relationship as in Figure 1. For clarity only,there is shown a mop handle 3 which may be secured to the socket member4 threadedly or by any other suitable means and in turn the socket 4 isarranged for substantial universal movement,

more clearly shown in Figures 4 and 5, by means of mutuallyperpendicular pivot pins 5 and 6 and this should be entirely clear,element 10 forming the connection between the pins. Depending from pin 6is a member 7, fully shown in Figures 3 and 5, which has its circularbody portion positioned in a circular opening 9 in the top wall ofhousing H and is provided at its bottom with a flat cam 8 which will bemore fully described hereinafter.

As to the housing H, such includes a bottom plate 11, side walls 12extending upwardly therefrom and end walls 13 also extending upwardlytherefrom. There is also provided a top plate 14 which is spaced fromthe bottom plate 11 to provide a rectangular space 15 of a size toreceive a part of the wings 1 and 2, the opening 9 actually extendingthrough top 14 and communicating with space 15.

Considering wing 1 and referring particularly to Figures .3 and 5, suchis shown as a solid rod member of substantial triangular shape and thebase thereofpasses through the walls 13 and terminates in the legs 17which are of a size to provide .a close fit within space 15, as shown inFigure 5,, betweensurfaces 11 and 14. With such an arrangement the wing1 is in effect made stationary and integrally secured with housing H andas- "housing H. As a matter of fact, that part of the'win'gfl outsideofthe housing H could take the form of a solid member.

Now referring to wing 2, such is made of a metallic rod which naturallyassumes, due to its resiliency, the position shown by the dotted linesin Figure 3, but which may be biased to the solid line position ofFigure 3. That portion of the wing 2 exterior of housing H completes theheart-shape of the mop support and assumes the configuration of a cradlewith the base 18 thereof being journaled within slots 19 of the endwalls 13. Likewise the base 18 terminates in legs 20 and when the legs20 are positioned as shown in Figure 5 and by the solid lines of Figure3, they also are maintained between walls 11 and 14 within thoseportions of space 15 further identified by numeral 16 with wing 2 beingcoplanar with wing 1, this being the condition of the mop supportillustrated in Figure 1.

The top plate 14 has two rectangular slots 22 cut out therefrom and thecam 8 within housing H is arranged for movement between the solid anddotted line positions substantially rectangular recess 21 communicatingwith slot 9 is provided in the bottom-of wall 14 and this recess is of asize to receive earn 8 when the latter as sumes the solid line positionsof Figures '3, 4 and 5.

There is positioned beneath cam 8 suitable spring means 23 whichcontinually urges the cam 8 upwardly against the top wall 14 and intorecess 21 at which time the Wings are locked in extended coplanarposition. Spring 23 may take various forms, but as shown comprises abulging leaf with extended tips thereof positioned in cutouts 24 ofwalls 13.

Assuming it is desired to collapse Wing 2 whereby swab M may be removedor replaced, then handle 3 and in turn member 7 is manually depressedagainst the upwardly from the slot 21 within which it is maintained.Thereafter the handle and in turn the cam may be turned 90 degrees untilthe cam rests against the stops 25 and when this is done the legs 20 arefree of cam 8 and automatically bias toward one another underneath theopenings 22 of the top plate 14, whereupon wing 2 may be readilycollapsed as shown in Figure 2 by merely elevating the entire mop fromthe floor.

From the foregoing disclosure and description of the invention which isillustratory and explanatory thereof, it is clear that the apparatusachieves the objects enumerated therein. Various changes in the size,shape and materials, as well as in the details of the illustratedconstruction may be made within the scope of the appended claims withoutdeparting from the spirit of this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A mop head including a connector comprising a hous'mg having a spacetherein supporting means for a mop handle carried by the connector,wings for effecting connection with a swab mounted in opposed relationon opposite sides of the connector, one of said wings being mounted forhinged movement relative to said connector and other wing from a firstposition in which the wings are substantially coplanar to a secondposition in which the wings are collapsed relative to each other, andearn means connected with said supporting means for maintaining thewings in said first position, said cam means being mounted for manualrotative movement within the space of said connector into and out ofengagement with said one wing, said last named wing having portionspositioned within the space of said connector movable by said cam meansfrom an unbiased position wherein the wings may be collapsed relative toone another to a biased position wherein the wings are coplanar.

2. A mop head as defined in claim 1 wherein the housing includes a topand bottom wall separated to provide said space therebetween, said topwall having a pair of slots therein communicating with said space, saidpordirected bias of spring 23 in order to remove the cam tions beingmovable through said slots when in their unbiased position.

3. A mop head as defined in claim 2 wherein the top wall is providedwith a recess, and bias means within said housing for urging said cammeans into said recess when the wings are coplanar whereby the cam islocked against movement.

4. A mop head as defined in claim 3 wherein the supporting means ismounted for rotative movement and downward movement toward said bottomwall and wherein the cam means is movable against the action of saidbias means out of said recess and out of engagement with said portionsby downward and rotative movements of said handle supporting means.

5. A mop head as defined in claim 4 wherein there is provided within theconnector stop means for limiting the movement of said cam means.

6. A mop head as defined in claim 5 wherein the top vwall furtherincludes a circular opening communicating with said space, said cammeans having a part projecting through said opening connected with saidhandle supporting means.

7. A mop head as defined in claim 6 wherein the one wing is a metallicrod.

8. A mop head comprising a connector housing having a top and bottomwall separated to provide a space therebetween, mop handle supportingmeans carried by the housing, wings for effecting connection with a swabmounted in opposed relation on opposite sides of the connector housing,one of said wings being mounted for hinged movement relative to saidconnector and other wing from a first position in which the wings aresubstantially coplanar to a second position in which the wings arecollapsed relative to each other, said one wing being journaled to saidhousing and having portions positioned within said housing movable froman unbiased position wherein the wings may be collapsed relative to oneanother to a biased position wherein the wings are coplanar, and meansincluding a cam connected with said supporting means mounted for manualrotative movement within the space of said housing into engagement withsaid portions to effect unbiased-position thereof.

9. A mop head as defined in claim 8 wherein the top wall is providedwith a pair of slots, said portions being movable through said slotswhen in an unbiased position and locked within said space when in abiased position.

10. A mop head as defined in claim 9 wherein the top wall is providedwith a recess, and bias means within said housing for urging said caminto said recess when the wings are coplanar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,437,789 Whyte Dec. 5, 1922 1,618,553 Saul Feb. 22, 1927 2,310,011 Caveet a1 Feb. 2, 1943 2,638,616 Fatland May 19, 1953 2,804,638 Vosbikian etal. Sept. 3, 1957

